News Archive

Join us for Autumnal Fire Sept. 26th!

Wednesday, 03 September 2014 10:19

Join us for our fourth annual Autumnal  Fire, Friday, September 26th from 6:00-8:00 pm. Enjoy roasting a sausage or marshmallow while enjoying the garden and uplit trees with friends. This is an event that is enjoyed by all ages. This event is weather dependent. For more information, call us at 617-333-0924.

Wednesday Open Hours Extended! Check out our new labyrinth.

Wednesday, 20 August 2014 11:53

Check out the new labyrinth during our open hours! During their last week with us, the interns created something we think will have a lasting impact: a stunning naturalistic labyrinth (shown above). Inspired by the large pile of rocks unearthed by the archaeology program, the labyrinth will be used during school field trips for units relating to landforms, rocks, and erosion.

For now, we have extended our Wednesday afternoon summer open hours until September 17. We hope to add additional public visitation hours soon. If you are interested in visiting and cannot come out at that time, please call 617-333-0924 x22 to arrange a visit.

Trust Hosts Visit For Kids From Harvard/Eliot School Summer Program

Monday, 11 August 2014 11:34

The Wakefield Charitable Trust recently hosted a "Visual Arts in Nature" field trip for eighteen students from Roxbury Tenants of Harvard's Summer Enrichment Program which partners with the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts in Jamaica Plain to provide visual arts, fiber arts and woodworking classes for their students. During their visit, students and adults enjoyed a walk around the formal garden, a visit with the sheep and llama Jack, a chance to touch and feed our "main man" rooster "Little D," a picnic lunch and woodland walk, and investigated the pond creatures - some even touched a frog and crayfish if they had the courage! The Wakefield Summer Interns provided valuable assistance and facilitated the students' visits with the animals. This past May, twenty-five Charles Sumner Elementary Boys & Girls Club youth and adults came and visited our site as part of their Eliot School Fiber Arts class and got a special treat- to watch the annual sheep shearing. We look forward to building this partnership with the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts to bring many more students to our site.

2014 Summer Interns Prove Less Can Be More!

Monday, 11 August 2014 09:50

This year, the Wakefield Estate staff decided to keep its Summer Landscape Intern crew smaller than usual, with just five carefully chosen members. Our hope was to work more effectively and efficiently with a smaller group, focusing on skill development and building their knowledge base. This year's crew has greatly exceeded our expectations, proving that indeed "less can be more." The 2014 crew, just beginning its final of six weeks, has worked especially well as a unit, helping us to make enhancements to the estate's landscape. Many visitors have remarked that the estate has never looked better, thanks in part to the work of the interns, which has built on our significant landscape rehabilitation efforts earlier this year.

The 2014 Summer Landscape Intern Crew includes: Kashawn (Kash) Coker-Spencer, Madeleine (Maddy) Collins, Shaun Crofton, Matthew (Matt) Edwards, and Valerie (Val) Watson; representing Boston Prep, Milton High, Milton Hight, Pacific Rim, and Norfolk Agricultural High, respectively. All but one are graduating seniors and will be entering college this fall. Great job team, and best of luck!